Honest Lies
by Virginia Gale
Summary: First Class Rewrite-Erik and Charles meet another mutant after Shaw escapes in Miami. Can she help them bring down Shaw, or will her secrets be their undoing? M for later chapters. Erik x OC
1. Chapter 1

_**Author's Note: **_This is my first X-Men fan fiction. I enjoyed the first four movies and the cartoon back in the day, but I absolutely loved First Class. Michael Fassbender's portrayal of Erik Lehnsherr was especially impressive and inspired me to do a rewrite of First Class with an OC love interest for Erik. Some of the plot and timelines may differ from the movie to work with this story.

I truly appreciate any thoughts or feedback. I hope you enjoy, and thank you for reading!

_**Disclaimer: **_I do not own any characters of the X-Men comics or films.

* * *

><p>Erik's lungs were burning. Schmidt—or Shaw—or whatever the hell that bastard called himself these days was within his grasp. He just needed to pull a little bit harder, and then he could end this.<p>

But spots were beginning to appear in front of his eyes. The muscles in his fingers were cramping as he strained to hold back the escaping submarine, yet nothing that he did seemed to make any difference. The vessel just kept moving farther away from him.

Erik couldn't bear it—to be so close to retribution and to fail once more. His rage consumed him. He was determined to stop his mother's murderer now or to die in the attempt; he wouldn't settle for less. He focused his energy on the submarine once more, but he could tell that his earlier efforts had left him drained. It seemed as if the ship were pulling him now, but that didn't matter to him. He clung to the magnetism of the vessel with all he had left and accepted that it might mean his death.

Suddenly, a voice broke his concentration. It entered his mind and told him to stop this madness—only it was no voice Erik had ever known. At first, he thought it was a hallucination from the lack of oxygen. Then, the voice materialized into two arms enveloping him and pulling him toward the surface, away from Shaw. The voice—apparently belonging to a Charles Xavier—claimed to understand him and know what losing Shaw meant to him, but Erik doubted that. If Charles truly knew him, then he would have let him drown, rather than make him live with this defeat.

They finally broke the surface, and Erik gasped for breath. The oxygen may have helped his body physically, but it did little to stem the disappointment and fury that welled within him at the sight of Shaw's submarine diving further into the depths.

Despite his frustration, Erik did find some comfort in hearing Charles say that he was not alone, that there were others in the world with gifts. Part of Erik brimmed with curiosity. What could these others do? How many were there? Shaw had obviously found several of them based on the people that Erik had seen on the boat, but this thought simply served to remind Erik that Shaw and his mutant puppets had managed to escape.

"Wait," Charles said, as he put two fingers up to the side of his head. "There's something still on the ship."

Erik turned to survey the wreck behind them. Its upper deck looked like a heap of broken boards and twisted metal, but the ship was still afloat. It seemed possible that some of the interior was still intact, and if so, one of Shaw's lackeys could still be hiding inside. Erik's heart began pumping more rapidly as he realized that all hope might not be lost. The person onboard might know Shaw's next move, and Erik would do whatever was necessary to obtain that information.

"I can't get a clear reading," Charles continued. "I need to get onboard to investigate."

But Erik was already one step ahead of him. With his mind, he sought out the anchor's massive metal chain. He drew it in close to himself and Charles and began to raise it from the water. Once it was within reach, Erik grabbed hold of the chain and instructed Charles to do the same. He then lifted the chain toward the ship so that they could jump onto the deck.

Erik would usually do this sort of work alone. This was his mission, his score to settle, but he saw the advantages to having someone like Charles along. The younger man had already peered into Erik's mind and had seemed to do so with little difficulty. If Erik couldn't get the information he needed from Shaw's man through threats or pain, he thought that Charles might be able to get to it using his ability.

"This way," Charles indicated as he took the lead, guiding them through the ship's corridors and around debris.

"Can you sense anything about the person onboard?" Erik asked, hoping that Charles' gift might give them an upper hand in whatever sort of fight lay ahead.

"No," Charles replied honestly. "I'm not even sure it's a person that I'm sensing."

"You mean there might not be anyone here? How do you know your way around if you're not following someone's mind through the ship?" Erik demanded.

"I'm sensing something, and I can focus on finding my way to that something; it's just that this something is unlike anything I've ever sensed before," Charles explained as they headed deeper into the ship. "It's not like a normal human mind where I can hear a regular stream of consciousness, and it's not like Shaw's telepath either. I actually felt her forcibly pushing me out of her mind earlier. Whatever this is, it feels more like something camouflaged—something that doesn't want to be found."

"How can you find something that's hiding like that—even with your ability?"

"I think the camouflage must be weakening. It's given me enough random images to know the layout of the ship, but not enough to know what we're dealing with."

Erik desperately wanted to know what Charles was sensing. If it was something that Shaw was trying to keep hidden, then Erik wanted to lay claim to it—either to destroy or to use it against Shaw. He may not have had the vengeance he'd wanted tonight, but Erik was still determined to make Shaw suffer somehow.

"You need to stay focused," Charles said. "We don't know what we'll face ahead, and only thinking of revenge won't help us."

Erik was caught off guard by Charles' sudden comment. Even though Erik knew of Charles' gift, it was still surprising to hear him respond to unspoken words. On top of that, it was bothersome to Erik that this young man had free access to the thoughts and emotions that he had spent years learning to conceal.

"Yes, everyone who knows my secret tends to dislike that their thoughts are no longer private, but I try to limit reading people's minds only to those moments when it is absolutely necessary," Charles explained. "And going through enemy territory with an illusive figure potentially lurking about seems like an appropriate moment."

"I can't find fault in that," Erik replied. He knew that if he had Charles' ability, he would be using it now too.

"Glad we're on the same page," Charles quipped, but suddenly his demeanor became more serious. He closed his eyes, and once again his fingertips returned to his forehead. After a moment, he turned to Erik and said, "Someone new just arrived."

"Who is it?"

"I'm not sure. He keeps jumping around the ship, and his mind is being guarded by Shaw's telepath," Charles replied. "It feels like there's a fortress around his thoughts, but it doesn't seem impenetrable. I think the telepath may be having trouble sustaining a mental shield from this distance."

"Good," Erik stated coolly. If Shaw's telepath couldn't interfere, it would make it easier for them to interrogate the new arrival.

"We'll _question_ him, but we won't harm him unless we have to," Charles said firmly as he lowered his hand and began walking once more. "He might simply be some misguided mutant who's just following Shaw's orders."

Erik scoffed. He hated the phrase 'just following orders.' He knew what men were capable of when they _just followed orders,_ and he knew that they deserved to be punished for their actions. Erik thought he would receive another scolding from Charles for these opinions, but there was no opportunity for it. When they rounded the next corner, Charles held up his hand to halt them.

"He just went in there," Charles whispered, pointing to a nearby doorway. Both he and Erik quietly crept towards the entrance and peered inside. Before them was a large cargo hold, disheveled from the earlier attack but still to Erik it resembled Shaw's offices at the concentration camp. Spread throughout the room, there were sharp instruments of various shapes and sizes—some still coated with the blood of past victims—and examination tables equipped with bindings.

Among these devices of torture, Erik quickly spotted the mutant that had just arrived. He looked like the devil incarnate with bright red skin and a pointed tail. The mutant was turned away from the doorway where Erik and Charles stood, apparently focused on something on the other side of the room.

"Did you honestly think your interference was going to keep me out?" the mutant hissed. Erik followed his gaze and saw that the question was directed to a woman on the floor across the room. She was sitting with her legs bent to her side and her hands behind her back. Her clothes were torn and dirty, and her pale skin was marred with bruises and dried blood. Around her neck was a metal collar linked to the far wall by a thick chain.

"It was worth a shot," she replied, keeping her steely grey eyes focused on the red mutant.

"Shaw wouldn't let his favorite new pet go so easily. Besides, you're nowhere near as powerful as Frost—it was only a matter of time before she and I got through your pathetic defenses," the mutant retorted.

"I may not be as powerful as the ice bitch, but I'm still strong enough to stop you from taking me to Shaw," the woman stated. "If you even try it, I'll see to it that we end up a mile deep in the Atlantic or in the middle of some wall."

"Doing that would kill the both of us," the red mutant said.

"Better dead than Shaw's prisoner," she said determinedly.

"Well, if that's how you're going to behave," the mutant replied, picking up a broken pipe from the floor and moving closer to the woman, "I think we should see how much damage you can do while you're unconscious."

She sat unflinchingly as the other mutant raised the pipe to strike her, but suddenly the pipe flew from his hand straight into Erik's, who was now standing inside the room.

"Didn't anyone tell you it's not nice to hit a lady?" Erik asked harshly, the anger apparent in his voice.

"Erik, don't do anything rash," Charles advised from behind him, but knives and scalpels were already floating around the room, all pointed toward Shaw's minion.

"How sweet," the red mutant said, turning toward Erik. "It looks as if someone's come to rescue you."

"Tell me where Shaw is going and I may let you live," Erik demanded.

The mutant laughed menacingly in response. "You think your threats frighten me?"

"Azazel, don't do this!" Charles shouted, stepping forward.

"How do you know that name?" Azazel asked, looking puzzled.

"All of us are the same here. We're all gifted," Charles replied. "I can see your thoughts. Deep down, you are a good person; you've just been misled by Shaw. I can see the promises he's made to you, and the things he's made you do."

"If you can see that," Azazel began, "then you must be able to see that I enjoy my current occupation."

"I can see that you enjoy the acceptance Shaw offers you, but you don't have to do Shaw's bidding to find that," Charles pleaded before turning to Erik and mentally asking him to lower the weapons.

Erik released a frustrated sigh as his eyes went from Charles to the mutant Azazel. "Do you yield?" he asked.

Azazel smirked, his hand reaching for something on his belt as he said, "Never." Then, in an instant, he was gone.

Simultaneously, the woman screamed, "No!" and then shut her eyes tightly. Erik and Charles felt the air rustle behind them and turned around to see that the red mutant had reappeared ten feet from them. Azazel had a sword drawn, and the moment he'd materialized, he took a swing through the air as if he'd expected a target to be there. Yet his sword didn't connect with anything and his eyes were filled with fury.

"Bitch!" Azazel yelled. "You can't misdirect me forever." He disappeared again only to end up across the room with his feet at least a yard off the floor. It was clear that the woman was somehow disrupting Azazel's movements but couldn't completely stop them. As the red mutant was falling, he vanished again, this time reappearing next to Erik's floating knives. Azazel grabbed one of the instruments and threw it at the woman before evaporating once more.

Erik let the other objects fall to the floor and focused on the knife headed toward the woman. He stopped it, but not before it had interrupted her concentration. Azazel suddenly materialized right in front of Erik, and his sword nicked Erik's neck before Erik had gained control over the blade.

"That was foolish," Erik said as he moved the sword with his mind to press against Azazel's neck. At first, the other mutant struggled, but then it looked as if his body was relaxing, accepting its current predicament. Erik thought it peculiar until he saw Charles out of the corner of his eye with his fingers to his forehead yet again.

"You don't want to do this," Charles stated.

"I don't want to do this," Azazel replied with a blank expression on his face. Erik was impressed. Charles appeared to have full control over the other mutant.

"Tell us about Shaw," Charles commanded.

"Shaw…Shaw…" Azazel mumbled. "Shaw ordered me to get the girl… She knows too much and is too valuable…She…She…" Suddenly the fog lifted from the mutant's eyes, and he practically growled at Charles and Erik before using his ability to jump to the other side of the room. He was right behind the woman, grabbing the chain at her neck and cutting it from the wall.

Azazel looked up to smirk at Charles and Erik once more. Erik knew what the other mutant was going to do and knew that he didn't have much time. He quickly focused on the links of the chain, managing to break them just as Azazel disappeared again. Thankfully, Erik's actions had worked—the woman was still there.

"We need to move in case he comes back," Charles said before hurrying over to the woman. Erik was two steps behind him.

The woman struggled against her bindings as they approached, and Charles immediately tried to reassure her. "We don't mean you any harm. I'm Charles Xavier, and this is Erik Lehnsherr. We're here to help."

"You're here for Shaw," she replied, still trying to get free. "And while I wish you the best of luck with that, I just need to get the hell out of here."

Erik now stood only a few feet from her and could see more of the damage done. The back of her shirt was shredded, and the lash marks there still looked raw where a whip had been brought down on her skin. Her long brown hair was streaked with dark red blood, and her grey eyes held an expression of exhaustion, pain, and fear. After taking in this sight, Erik felt his hatred for Shaw renewed and quickly removed the shackles from the woman's hands and the collar from her neck using his ability.

"Thank you," she said, looking up at Erik as she gently rubbed the bruised skin of her neck. From her accent, Erik could tell she was American, and she appeared to be in her mid-twenties.

"We need to get you medical attention," Charles said.

"No," she replied firmly. "I don't want medical attention."

"Why not? Can you heal yourself?" Charles asked, his curiosity apparent.

"No," she answered, turning back to Charles. "But your mind's an open book, Professor. I have no interest in receiving medical attention from your government friends and then becoming their lab rat."

"It wouldn't be like that," Charles tried to convince her. "I'm trying to make the government understand that, despite what Shaw might do, mutants shouldn't be feared. You can help me with that." Charles' eyes went from the woman back up to Erik before he added, "Both of you can."

"Look," the woman began, "I can appreciate what you're trying to do, but it would be better for everybody if I were on my own. There's a chance that Shaw will come after me again, and if he does, he'll go for the people around me first. That's the way he works. You'll be safer if you just let me go."

Erik knew all too well what she was talking about. Shaw had killed Erik's mother just to get him to use his abilities as a boy. But now this habit of Shaw's suddenly seemed like it might be useful to Erik. If Shaw really was pursuing this woman, then Erik stood a good chance of finding him by staying close to her.

"That's a risky move," she said, and Erik noticed that she was now eyeing him suspiciously.

"No one's going to use you as bait," Charles stated. "But Erik does raise a good point. If Shaw does come after you, it would be to your benefit to have people around you who can protect you."

"I don't need protection," she retorted as she awkwardly got to her feet, clearly favoring her right leg. She then tried to grab a blanket off a nearby table, but she winced as she tried to move closer to it. Erik quickly grabbed the blanket and held it open for her.

"Your current circumstances beg to differ," he said, and she glared at him in response, snatching the blanket from him and throwing it over her shoulders herself, rather than allowing him to wrap her up in it.

"Just come with me for now," Charles said, trying to diffuse the growing tension. "We'll have your injuries seen to, you can tell us whatever you can about Shaw, and after that, if you still want to go, you'll be free to go. I give you my word."

She cast her face downward and closed her eyes for a few moments, contemplating her options. After a long period of silence, she looked back up at them and resignedly said, "Fine."

"Excellent," Charles replied, sounding almost giddy with excitement. "And I have to tell you, I had no idea how you were going to respond just now. I couldn't read your mind at all."

"I take it you don't have much experience with mental barriers then," she said.

"None. I'd never even met another telepath before tonight."

"Well, I'm told it can be quite unsettling the first time one of our kind encounters another," she replied.

"Wasn't it that way for you, the first time you sensed another telepath?" Charles asked eagerly

"I don't remember," she answered. "I was three."

"Your abilities manifested at age three? Extraordinary," Charles said, seemingly lost in a state of wonder. In fact, he seemed so caught up in the experience of meeting another telepath that he apparently forgot their current situation. Erik, however, remembered clearly what was going on, and he could tell that this wouldn't be the best place to make a stand against Shaw.

"I'm sorry," Charles said, seeming to come out of his reverie after Erik's thoughts. "I almost forgot where we were and that we need to get out of here."

"We should try to move quickly," Erik added as he met the woman's gaze. "With the state this ship is in, it won't be easy to traverse with an injured leg. You're going to need help."

She seemed hesitant about accepting his assistance, but eventually she nodded in assent. Erik then picked her up, trying to be careful of applying too much pressure to her injured back. Charles again took as the lead as they started making their way off the ship.

Surrounded by telepaths, Erik suddenly became very conscious of his thoughts. Although he tried not to, he couldn't help but wonder what Shaw had wanted from the woman in his arms and what had happened to her onboard the ship. An internal feud arose within his mind as he regarded the woman. A part of Erik wanted to question her until she told him all that she knew of Shaw and his plans—the part of him driven to torture and kill until he had his revenge. But another side of him was beginning to win out. He felt sympathy for this nameless woman who had been made to suffer at Shaw's hands just as he had. Yes, he wanted to use her to get to Shaw, but he also wanted to help her.

"Viola Curtis," she said as they neared the upper deck.

"What?" Erik asked.

"Among other things, you were just thinking that I'm nameless," she replied. "I was simply correcting you. My name is Viola Curtis."

Erik then realized that she had heard all of his thoughts, including the dark ones. "I won't hurt you, Miss Curtis," he said, "despite what my thoughts might tell you."

"Yes, you would," Viola replied frankly. "If it meant getting Shaw, I think you would be willing to hurt anyone."

Erik looked into her eyes after that comment. He expected anger or disgust to be there, yet he only saw acceptance and sympathy.

"To be honest with you, Mr. Lehnsherr, I think I can understand your motives," she continued. "I don't agree with them, mind you, but I understand them."

Erik then turned away from her gaze, appearing to focus on his footing. In actuality, he was trying to ignore both Viola's blunt honesty and her apparent willingness to overlook his brutal nature. He had never expected someone to understand his suffering and hate. He had also never shared these feelings with anyone the way he had tonight.

It was a new and strange experience for Erik to be surrounded by both Viola and Charles. They were his kind—mutants—unique and gifted. They also knew him—the _real_ him—and yet, they didn't judge him. He had felt empty when Shaw escaped, but now with Viola and Charles, it felt as if something was filling the void. For the first time in as long as he could remember, Erik didn't feel alone.


	2. Chapter 2

_**Author's Note: **_Thank you to everyone who has reviewed, alerted, and favorited this story! I greatly appreciate the feedback.

Now, here's Chapter 2. Just as a forewarning, the story does diverge from First Class a bit. I hope you enjoy, and thank you for reading!

* * *

><p>Erik was starting to lose his patience as he waited for the debriefing to begin. He was sitting at a round meeting table with Charles and CIA agent Moira MacTaggert to his right and a plump man in a suit across from him. Soldiers stood at both exits to the room, apparently to protect its occupants from potential threats. But the guards looked young and inexperienced to Erik—hardly capable of offering any protection from an opponent like Shaw.<p>

Another strike against these soldiers was that they seemed to view Erik as one of the threats rather than one to protect, especially based on their cold, judgmental stares. By now, all of the military men at this facility had heard of what had happened in Miami, and Erik didn't need Charles' telepathy to know that they regarded him as a freak because of it. He could see it in their eyes—eyes that he could easily blind with a few well-aimed metallic pens from the table.

_That's enough, Erik. Just stay calm, and maybe we'll be able to give these men reason to be more open-minded, _Charles told him telepathically before turning his attention back to Moira. The two were carrying on their own conversation, leaving the man in the suit to ramble Erik's ear off. The man was with the United States government and had a keen interest in mutants. He was the one who'd brought Charles to Miami to try to find Shaw, and he currently was advocating for the further use of mutants in government operations.

The man was now on his fifth reason as to why this facility of his was the perfect place to launch a new 'mutant division' of the CIA. With this nonstop chatter and the annoying looks from the boys pretending to soldiers, Erik found he couldn't help but reach for the coin he always carried. Shaw—back when he was called Schmidt in Auschwitz—had given the coin to Erik after he'd failed to lift it from a desk to save his mother's life. Now the coin served to remind Erik of the purpose behind his actions. Everything that he went through—everything that he subjected others to—all of it was to bring him one step closer to Shaw.

Erik spun the coin around his fingers, trying to stay calm and focused. He knew that Charles and the other mutants at this facility were his best chance of getting to Shaw. They could help him get past Shaw's minions and finally attain his life's pursuit. But if Erik had to keep dealing with these humans, he didn't know if he could handle sticking around for much longer. The benefits weren't worth the cost to his pride or his sanity.

Just then, the door in front of Erik opened, and two women walked in—Charles' sister Raven and Shaw's former captive Viola. The latter looked much better than the last time Erik had seen her. A pair of long, tight jeans and a black, boat neck top helped to cover most of her bruises and cuts. Her hair had also been cleaned and styled into a bun on top of her head. And except for a bandage wrapped around her foot and partially concealed by her flat-heeled shoes, Erik wouldn't have known that Viola's leg had been injured. The steadiness to her walk either meant that the wound wasn't as bad as Erik had originally thought, or that Viola was a woman who knew how to overcome pain.

Erik felt a sudden need to stand as the two women entered, even though he wasn't usually one to offer gentlemanly courtesies. Such displays were generally a waste of time that could be better spent hunting Shaw, but he felt that these women, as fellow mutants, deserved his respect. When the women neared the table, Erik used his ability to pull out the chairs on his left, and Viola took the chair nearest to him. As they sat down, her eyes met his and she whispered, "Thank you."

Before Erik could respond, the man in the suit interrupted. "Well, let's get started," he began. "What we're hoping to do today is get some information on Sebastian Shaw from you, Miss Curtis, and you, Mr. Lehnsherr, given that you both seem to have a history with him. Other than the kidnapping charge from Miss Curtis, the CIA only seems to have speculation about Shaw. We have reason to believe that he has been engaging in treasonous activities, but we need more solid leads and evidence if we're going to stop him. We also believe he may have had some connection to the recent disappearance of Colonel Hendry, but again we can't prove anything."

"Hendry's dead," Viola spoke up. "Shaw killed him."

"Did you actually see the murder?" Moira asked.

"Technically, I didn't _see _anything, rather I sensed Hendry's death," Viola replied, but the humans looked confused by her response. She continued, trying to explain what she meant, "I have an ability not unlike the Professor's. For the most part, I can read people's minds unless someone or something blocks me from doing so. One of Shaw's associates, Emma Frost, could block me, so she kept me out of the minds of Shaw and his team. But whenever someone came onboard the ship whose mind I could read, I usually paid attention so that I could get some idea of what was going on."

"So what happened to Hendry?" the man in the suit asked.

"Hendry was angry about something that Shaw had made him do, so he came to the ship to confront Shaw about it," Viola replied. "I couldn't determine all of the details, but Hendry was angry enough to bring a live grenade onboard to try to kill Shaw."

"What happened?" Moira asked.

"You don't know about Shaw's ability?" Viola asked, but again her audience responded with blank expressions of uncertainty. Even Erik didn't know what Shaw's ability was. Shaw had left Erik in the hands of Nazi scientists after he had destroyed Shaw's lab. Erik had figured that this was most likely because Shaw feared retaliation from his test subject. The experiments performed on Erik—however painful and grueling—had provided Erik with greater strength and control over his ability. And no doubt Shaw knew that Erik would have used that more powerful ability to kill his captor if given the chance. For that reason, Erik only met Shaw once, but that one instance was enough to scar Erik for life. He listened eagerly as Viola continued, hoping to find out something that could help him bring down Shaw.

"Shaw can absorb different forms of energy and then redirect that energy as he sees fit," she explained. "If he directs it at a person or thing, he can be quite destructive. That's what happened with Hendry. Shaw let the grenade go off, absorbed the energy from it, and then used that energy to kill Hendry. When Shaw directs energy inwardly, though, it has the opposite effect. It rejuvenates him."

"So basically no explosive weapon would kill him because he could just absorb the energy from it?" Charles asked.

"Bullets wouldn't work either," Viola replied. "Shaw can absorb the kinetic energy behind them so that they wouldn't hurt him."

"And if he were able to get to an energy source, his ability would allow him to heal any injuries he might have?" Charles asked.

"And prevent him from aging," Viola added.

"What?" the man in the suit asked.

"Shaw's ability allows his body to regenerate to the point where he doesn't age," Viola replied.

It now made sense to Erik why Shaw looked just as he had in Auschwitz. He had thought it was just his mind playing tricks on him the other night in Miami, but now there was a logical reason for it. And there was also one more thing for Erik to figure out before he faced Shaw again—how he was going to kill the bastard.

"So if he doesn't age, how old is he?" Moira asked.

"I don't know for certain," Viola replied. "I managed to glimpse into his mind occasionally, and it looked like some of his memories were from the 1800's based on what people were wearing. Whether he was born before that, I can't say."

"If he's been around since the 1800's, I'm surprised we don't have a larger file on him," the man in the suit said. "It's just been recently that Shaw has been engaging in criminal activity."

"That's because he hasn't always gone by the name Sebastian Shaw," Viola replied.

"And he hasn't always operated in America," Erik added. He then explained to them about Shaw's time with the Nazis as Klaus Schmidt, informing them of how Shaw used to experiment on mutants but leaving out the more personal details. Despite his omissions, though, Charles and Viola still looked at Erik with sympathetic eyes, clearly aware of the horrors he had lived through at Shaw's hands.

"So, Shaw has shown a continued interest in collecting mutants," Moira commented. "Is that why he kidnapped you, Miss Curtis?"

"In part," Viola answered. "It also had to do with my father's past dealings with him, when Shaw was going by the alias Michael Shane."

"Michael Shane," Moira repeated. "That name sounds familiar."

"He was an associate of a few well-known mob bosses in 1920's Chicago," Viola replied. "That's when my father met him. My father was a 15 or 16-year-old orphan at the time trying to use his ability to survive in the city."

"What could your father do?" Charles asked.

"He was telepathic. It helped him to persuade people to give him food or shelter when he needed it, but he always tended to live like an outcast. He thought he was some sort of freak because of what he could do. And that's when he met Shaw.

"Shaw had money and power and influence, and more importantly, he welcomed my father into his home with open arms. My father was so happy about being accepted that he didn't dig very deeply into Shaw's thoughts to find out the sort of person Shaw really was. But it didn't take long for the darker side of his new friend to become apparent."

"What happened?" Raven asked.

"Shaw brought my father down to his basement one night, and there was a man on a table in the center of the room. Shaw said that the man wasn't being cooperative, so he wanted my father to go into the man's mind and retrieve the information that he was looking for. My father tried to refuse, but Shaw just threatened to kill him and the man on the table if my father didn't do as he asked. So my father did as he was told and got the information, but then Shaw killed the man on the table anyway.

"After that night, my father ran. Shaw pursued him for a few years, but my father used his ability to always stay one step ahead of him. By the mid-1930's, my father hadn't sensed Shaw in years, so he settled down and had a family, thinking that Shaw had given up on finding him."

Viola became quiet for a moment, her eyes saddening as she seemed to remember something painful. "But Shaw didn't give up, did he?" Erik asked, trying to encourage her to continue.

"No, he didn't," Viola replied, her voice wavering a bit. "One night in 1948, my father sensed Shaw. He was close—too close for all of us to try to make a run for it. My father thought it would be best if he stayed behind to face Shaw alone, while my mother and I left. But my mother wouldn't leave him, so they sent me away to stay with a few mutant friends of theirs."

"Do you know what happened to your parents after you left?" Moira asked.

"The papers described it as a tragic fire that took the lives of the Curtis family, but I had a strong enough link with my father to see what really happened. My father tried to gain control over Shaw's mind to stop him, but Shaw had several other mutants with him, and my father couldn't control all of them at once. Shaw killed my parents when my father again refused to do his bidding, and then he burnt their house down."

"Did Shaw try to come after you then?" Charles asked.

"Yes, but he didn't have a telepath at the time and he had no knowledge of the friends that my parents had sent me to. That meant I wasn't easy to find. And as soon as I was old enough, I stayed on the move, and I avoided using the name Curtis wherever I went."

"How did Shaw end up kidnapping you then?" the man in the suit asked.

"Shaw has always been on the lookout for new mutants for his collection, and about five weeks ago, he found my parents' friends—the mutants I had stayed with as a child. Shaw's telepath managed to uncover most of their secrets, and I was one of them. I had seen them only about a month before and had told them I was staying in the nearby area. All Shaw's telepath had to do was project her thoughts outward for a few miles, and I heard her. I went to try to help them, but with her blocking my telepathic abilities, there was little I could do. Shaw killed them and then locked me up where you found me."

"I'm sorry for your losses, Miss Curtis," the man in the suit said, trying to sound sympathetic. Yet Erik doubted that this man could possibly understand what Viola had suffered. The man's comment seemed like fake sentiment to lead into his next question, "Is there anything you can tell us about where Shaw is going next?"

"I don't know where Shaw is now, and I don't know exactly where he's going," Viola replied, and Erik had to admit he was disappointed to hear it. He wanted to go on the hunt for Shaw as soon as possible, but it didn't sound like he would get a location as Viola continued, "I do know Shaw's endgame—nuclear war. Everything he's been doing has been to cause a nuclear war."

"Why? What good would it do Shaw if the world were destroyed?" Moira asked.

"Not all of the world would be destroyed," Viola began. "And, according to Shaw's theory, the people who survived would more likely be mutant than human, given the way Shaw's seen the mutant population increase with nuclear advances."

"So Shaw thinks genetic mutations are activated through exposure to nuclear radiation," Charles said with a worried expression on his face. "This could be bad."

But Erik didn't think it necessarily was. Creating a world for mutants actually sounded like a good idea to him. The only problem with the idea from Erik's perspective was that it belonged to Shaw, and Erik couldn't stand behind anything that had Shaw's taint on it.

Then one of the soldiers in the room let out a frustrated scoff.

"Is there something wrong, corporal?" the man in the suit asked.

The soldier didn't respond, but Charles spoke for him. "He doesn't think the government should be working with mutants. He thinks our kind should be locked up or exterminated."

"That's right," the corporal said. "You freaks are going to end up getting good, normal people killed."

Erik had heard enough. He pushed back his chair and tried to decide how best to hurt the corporal to teach him a lesson. Yet, before he could stand, Erik felt something grip his forearm. _Don't, _he heard in his head, only this time it wasn't Charles' voice. He looked to his left and saw Viola with her hand upon his arm and her grey eyes fixed on his face. The look of pleading in her eyes froze Erik to his chair. He didn't know why she wouldn't want him to defend mutant-kind, but he felt he couldn't refuse her request.

"Perhaps now would be a good time for the tour," the man in the suit interrupted. "I'll take you all to meet the head of our science and technology department, Dr. McCoy. And, corporal," he said turning to the soldier at the door, "you and I are going to have a discussion later."

* * *

><p>They spent the rest of the day touring the facility and meeting its staff, one of whom—Hank McCoy—also turned out to be a mutant, with animalistic features and agility.<p>

Yet, by the end of the day, Erik had very nearly left to go back to working on his own. The bothersome comments and looks from ignorant humans around him did nothing to encourage him to stay. Then there was Viola. She didn't know where Shaw was, nor did it sound like Shaw would come after her here while he was trying to start a nuclear war.

And on top of everything, Erik was certain that she had taken over his mind to stop him from hurting that human in the meeting room. It was aggravating for him to have lost control of his body like that.

All of this pushed Erik toward the door, but then Charles caught up with him, arguing that some good could be done here for mutants. The professor also reminded Erik that Shaw had friends—friends that could prevent Erik from getting within ten feet of his goal. Charles' words were enough to stop Erik in his tracks. He knew he needed to be smarter the next time he faced Shaw, and he needed to have allies of his own.

Erik then went back into the facility, but couldn't bring himself to go to sleep. He had too much on his mind, and he needed some sort of relief. He went to his room, stripped off his clothes, and pulled on a pair of sweatpants and a tank. He then headed for the gym he had seen earlier during the tour.

Erik had expected the place to be empty, given how late it was getting, but a few of the lights were on and Erik could hear something in the back. He followed the noise through the near darkness and soon discovered that it was Viola, attacking a punching bag. Her back was to him, and Erik just stood there for a moment, taking in the sight of her. She wore a tank top and sweatpants rolled up to her knees to cover her fit yet curvy figure, and her hair was pulled back in a ponytail. She was barefoot, allowing Erik to more clearly see the bandage on her right leg. It extended from her foot to her calf, but she didn't seem to be holding back because of it.

"Do you need something, Mr. Lehnsherr?" she asked suddenly, as she turned around to face him. Erik then wondered how long she had known he was there. "Basically since you entered the room," she replied. "It's not exactly easy to sneak up on a telepath."

"Apparently not," Erik said, as he considered leaving the room. He had come here to work through his anger with physical exercise, but he doubted that Viola's presence would allow him to do that.

"So I take it that you aren't interested in having a sparring partner help you deal with whatever issues are bothering you?" Viola asked.

"Not if you were to be my sparring partner," he responded coolly.

"Oh, really? And why is that?" she asked.

"Because you would cheat," he replied. "You would know my moves before I made them, or you could get inside my head and control my actions like you did at the meeting table. Your abilities would give you the advantage."

Viola looked taken aback by his comment, but then laid into him. "First of all, I didn't take control of you earlier today. Robbing decent people of their freewill isn't something that I do. At most, I'll try to calm someone down, but only so that they can think more rationally and avoid doing something stupid," she retorted, sounding a bit heated. From the way she spoke, though, Erik couldn't help but believe her. "Secondly," she continued, "I wouldn't cheat in a fair fight, and I don't appreciate you suggesting that I would."

Viola took a breath and seemed to steady herself before she made her last point. "And if my telepathy bothers you so much, I can give you my word that I'll never use it on you again, unless there's an emergency."

"You can actually do that?" Erik asked. "You can stop yourself from reading a specific person's mind?"

"You can stop yourself from moving all the metal around you. It's a similar concept for me," Viola replied. "It doesn't mean that I wouldn't be able to sense you when you enter a room, but I wouldn't try to go any further than that. I wouldn't read your thoughts or manipulate your mind in any way if I gave you my word on it. It's a rule I live by."

"And how often do you make exceptions to this rule?"

"Rarely," Viola answered. "If I'd given my word to someone to stay out of their head, I would only use my telepathy on that person if I had no other choice, or if the person gave me reason to break my word."

"What reason would make you break your word?" Erik asked.

"Well, if the person turned out to be evil or cruel, then I might be inclined to break my word."

"Then why would you even offer to give your word to me?" Erik asked. "You can see into my thoughts. You know the sort of man I am and how I've hurt people. You would end up breaking your word to me in a matter of hours."

"I obviously know more about what sort of man you are than you do, Erik," Viola said, moving closer to him. "I saw into Shaw's mind the night he killed my parents. He's what I consider evil and cruel, and you're nothing like him. I know you're obsessed with vengeance, Erik. I know you've done horrible things to try to take your vengeance, but I can see beyond that. Your vengeance isn't who you are. It's more like your occupation, and people change their occupation all the time."

"Oh, really?" he said mockingly.

"Yes, really," Viola stated firmly. "Over the last eight years, I've changed my name, my home, and my occupation half-a-dozen times, but that doesn't change who I am."

Erik didn't know how to react to the look in her eyes. She seemed to honestly believe that he was a better man than he had ever imagined he could be. He had long thought that there was too much blood on his hands for him to be anything other than a monster, but for some reason, she saw him differently.

"Erik Lehnsherr, I give you my word that I will not use my telepathy on you unless absolutely necessary," Viola said. "Now, do you still want me to go?"

He regarded the woman in front of him for a moment then smiled at how her trusting nature surprised him. He took off his shoes and stepped onto a nearby mat, before saying, "If you go now, you won't be able to prove that you're keeping your word to me." He motioned toward the mat and asked, "Are you still willing to spar with me, even without your ability?"

"I never turn down a challenge," she replied, joining him on the mat.

Erik couldn't deny his curiosity about this woman. She puzzled him. Her life hadn't been so different than his, but she didn't seem to crave revenge the way he did. She hadn't tried to hunt down Shaw; instead, she had spent her life running from him. But it didn't make sense. She wasn't weak. She wasn't turning down Erik's offer to fight him now.

As they began their dance, Erik couldn't stop himself from questioning her. "Why didn't you ever go after Shaw? You could have found some moment when he was without his telepath and killed him. Why didn't you ever seek retribution?"

"Retribution wouldn't have gotten me anything," Viola replied as she blocked Erik's hits. "My family would still be dead, and more people could have been hurt in the process."

"And so you just ran," Erik said, grabbing her wrist as she took a swing at him. She tried to break free by spinning away, but Erik kept a firm grip on her and managed to pull her closer to him. He trapped Viola in his arms, her back pressed against his body. "You preferred running to killing the man who stole your family and friends," he whispered into her ear. For some reason, he felt upset that she hadn't fought back against Shaw. "No wonder you let him keep you as his pet for over a month," he added.

With that, Viola elbowed Erik in the ribs and then hit his jaw with the back of her head, causing him to release her. He staggered back for a moment, and Viola took the opportunity to knee him in the stomach. The blow knocked the wind out of him and brought him to his knees. With another kick, Erik went face-first into the mat. Viola then got onto of his back and twisted one of his arms behind him, pinning him to the ground.

"I didn't _let _him keep me," Viola said angrily. "You're right, I am strong enough to try to take Shaw on. I was even strong enough to escape from his ship within a day of him kidnapping me, but not ten minutes after I'd left, Frost started projecting images into my head. She showed me a boy they'd grabbed off the street, and before I could even tell them to stop, Shaw shot him through the heart. Frost told me they would do the same thing again every half-hour I stayed away, so I went back and _let_ him keep me, as you describe it."

It was then apparent to Erik how Shaw had managed to imprison someone so strong-willed—he had found her weakness and had used it against her. Viola was clearly still upset by what had happened because she wasn't loosening her grip on Erik after talking about it. But Erik wasn't going to let her stay wound up like this, nor was he just going to surrender to her. Instead, with his free arm, he grabbed her injured ankle and squeezed. She winced, and Erik managed to flip her onto the mat while she was distracted by the pain.

Erik quickly moved to straddle her waist and pin her wrists above her head. Viola struggled to break free, but Erik held her down tightly. "Why didn't you just keep running?" he asked her, his face inches from hers. "What would it have mattered if Shaw had killed a few more humans?"

"I didn't want Shaw killing anyone because of me, Erik," she replied vehemently. "_Anyone._"

At those words, Erik once more felt strangely upset with Viola for how she had yielded to Shaw, but again Erik couldn't understand why. It shouldn't matter to him that some mutant would endure weeks of torture just to save a few humans, even though a human would be unlikely to do the same for a mutant. Yet for some reason, the thought of the woman beneath him being made to suffer at Shaw's hands was making Erik's blood boil.

In fact, Erik was bothered to the point of distraction, leaving himself vulnerable to Viola's counterattack. She jerked her hips up violently, throwing Erik off balance enough to flip him over and reverse their positions. "Have you had enough, Erik?" she asked from atop his waist, as she now held down his wrists.

But Erik knew he hadn't had enough of her. She unsettled him in a way no one else ever had, and oddly Erik wanted more of the feeling. There was a pull to it—not unlike the way a magnet drew in a piece of metal. There could be tension and resistance and conflict, but there was something more powerful behind it—something that Erik wanted to grab hold of. He managed to free one of his hands and tried to reach for her face, but Viola quickly pulled away, scrambling off of him.

"I wasn't going to hurt you," he said, sitting up.

"I know," she said, looking away from him.

"I thought you weren't going to read my mind anymore."

"A woman doesn't always have to be telepathic to know what a man is thinking," Viola replied, her tone serious. "But Erik, you should know that no matter what sort of mistaken impression you've taken from our sparring this evening, I don't date mutants."

She rose and went to grab her jacket from a nearby bench, as Erik asked, "Is that another rule you live by?"

"Yes," she answered without turning toward him.

Erik then stood and said, "Well, I suppose I shall just have to wait and see if you also make exceptions to that rule."

She froze for a moment, as if she wanted to debate with him further, but eventually she continued walking, saying only, "Goodnight, Erik."


End file.
